Challenges in building design and the construction industry: The future of design and construction in the Internet age

Abstract

This paper aims at reviewing the changes in building design and the construction industry brought by the Internet and also addressing the challenges for the future of design and construction in the Internet age. A review on the industry reveals that there were a number of remarkable changes in building design and the construction industry in terms of its organizational structure and knowledge representation. The former includes facilitation of horizontal and virtual business organizations, and shortened value chain while the latter is about the change in means of communications. These changes provide a good opportunity for those in the construction industry to meet clients' demands for consistency in quality, standardized process management and effective control of time and other resources.